Everything Burns
by Mekon-chan
Summary: Request by ElricLawliet. Song-fic Everything Burns: Anistacia. The silver haired Jounin almost passed her by at first. She was at the Jounin meeting, standing near the back, looking like she was trying to disappear. Kakashi/OC Kaka/OC KakashixOC KakaxOC


_A.N.: So! This was requested by a reader of mine: __**ElricLawliet**__! Here ya go! Sorry it took forever! ^_^"_

_I recommend listening to the song as/before you read. Song is: __Everything Burns by __Anastacia.__** It's really good!**_

* * *

**Everything Burns**

Kakashi/OC Song-fic 

_She sits in her corner__  
__Singing herself to sleep_

The silver haired Jounin almost passed her by at first. She was at the Jounin meeting, standing near the back, looking like she was trying to disappear. If Kakashi had been only a minute later, he wouldn't have heard her being introduced.

"Everyone," Tsunade said, waving her sake glass towards the back of the room, "This is Sayuri. She is a new Konoha Jounin. Treat her nicely, or whatever. Just don't accidentally kill her."

Kakashi observed the woman as the rest of the Jounin meeting resumed and everyone shifted their attention away from 'the new girl'.

She was tall and willowy, only a few inches shorter than Kakashi himself. Her clothes were as unremarkable as any other modest Jounin, and her hair was long and black, pulled back into a low hanging pony tail. Pieces fell into her face, but she made no move to brush them away.

The lazy Jounin looked to her eyes and found them looking back at him. The color startled him, a forest green that he had never seen before in someone's eyes. He had a feeling that they were the kind of eyes that lit up when a person smiled.

But these eyes did not smile. They were wary. They were tired.

Then the green eyes were sharp with attention. She wanted him to look away. Kakashi realized he had been staring into her eyes and was glad his mask didn't show his slight embarrassed blush. He turned away casually as if he was never looking at her in the first place; leaning against the wall he was standing by.

The weight of her stare left him, but he couldn't stop thinking of the agony he saw there.

_Wrapped in all of the promises__  
__That no one seems to keep_

The next time Kakashi saw her, she was sitting by herself at an outside table located at the corner coffee shop ninja frequented. She had an empty chipped blue mug in her hand and seemed to be staring at nothing. Kakashi paused in his walking to the memorial stone when he spotted her. He snapped closed his orange book, a rare occurrence in itself. Then, he approached her table, not really sure why.

"Yo," he greeted with a salute-like wave, "Are you the new girl?"

The woman concentrated on him with a sharpness that almost hurt. Then, the sharpness disappeared and was replaced with a wan expression. "You're the sixteenth person to ask me that."

Her voice was quiet, if sarcastic. There was a slight trill to it, making her words sound almost musical.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess you are, then?"

The girl rolled her eyes and Kakashi had the sudden realization that she was very beautiful. He hadn't noticed at first, he had never been this close to her. She had a refined beauty, one that only caught the eye of certain people. Kakashi supposed he was one of those men.

"Yes, I am 'the new girl' as everyone seems to want to call me."

"Great!" Kakashi responded cheerily, his uncovered eye curving in an upside down U, "I'm Hatake Kakashi. You are?"

He stuck out a hand, but she made no move to take it. He brushed it off, waiting for her name.

"Ito Sayuri."

"Nice to meet you, Sayuri."

She made a neutral sound in her throat, as if she didn't quite agree with him, but wasn't going to say anything.

Kakashi stood there for a minute, not saying anything. Sayuri only watched him, not offering any conversation. Then, apparently bored with him, she turned away to resume staring into the air.

Kakashi wasn't nearly as put off by this as he knew other people would be. He had done the same thing many times before. But the look on her face as she stared into nothing was strangely familiar…

He opened his mouth to start up another conversation, maybe to find out what she was thinking about, when he heard the tell-tale sounds of a certain green clad Jounin running at top speed in his direction, most likely set on 'challenging' Kakashi to another contest.

Kakashi sighed, causing the black haired woman to look up at him with a 'why are you still here' look. He ignored the look and gave her one of his famous eye-smiles and waves.

"I'll see you later, Sayuri!"

Just before he disappeared into a swirl of leaves he heard a quiet 'I doubt it' from the 'new' girl.

He wondered what that meant.

_She no longer cries to herself__  
__No tears left to wash away_

She was alone again when Kakashi saw her a week later. That seemed to be the trend with her. Only two days ago he had seen Kurenai talking with her, but she hadn't seemed to have hit it off with the Genjutsu mistress or any of the other kunoichi. Was it that there wasn't very many kunoichi her age or rank, or did she just need more time to be sociable?

Or was it something entirely different?

Sayuri was walking through the sparse crowd with her arms clasped behind her back. Kakashi noticed that no one besides himself was even sparing her a second glance. Many didn't even give her a first glance. He saw Kurenai talking with Asuma only a few feet away from Sayuri, but the Genjutsu mistress didn't even wave when she saw the newest Jounin. She only glanced at her before returning to her conversation, if resuming was the correct word to use. She really hadn't even stopped talking to the smoking ninja at all.

Kakashi looked to Sayuri to see her unaffected by Kurenai's lack of care. She looked like she expected it. She was used to it.

Then her eyes shifted to the silver haired man, as if, once again, sensing his gaze. Instead of brushing it off that day she was first introduced at the meeting, he eye-smiled at her, secretly smiling under his mask as well. He raised a hand and waved cheerfully.

Sayuri froze, her ponytail swishing at her sudden stop. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise, but she quickly controlled herself.

Hesitantly she raised a gloved hand and waved back, even if it was only the slightest movement of her wrist.

Kakashi lowered his hand as she did. They stared at one another as people walked between them. Then Sayuri turned away and resumed walking. Kakashi turned away too, walking in the opposite direction.

_Just diaries of empty pages__  
__Feelings gone astray_

Throughout the next two weeks there were countless other encounters. Sometimes it was just a wave across the room, others Kakashi approached the willowy woman to say a quick 'Yo' or make idle conversation. Kakashi found that Sayuri had never approached him when she saw him; he was always the one who stepped forward to talk. It was odd for Kakashi. Usually it was him who stood in the corner waiting for people to approach, but this was not the case when it came to Sayuri.

He wasn't quite sure what it was that drew him to her.

_But she will sing__  
_

"Yo, Sayuri!" He greeted as he approached her table. She was back at the coffee shop again, which seemed to be one of her favorite spots. Really, Kakashi could see why she favored it. The table she constantly sat at was always empty except for when she sat at it, and that particular corner by the window was especially quiet, with a nice breeze going by most of the time. Kakashi himself had sat there a few times by himself in the years before he became the "Copy Ninja". Now everyone saw fit to bother him.

"Kakashi," she nodded back, taking a sip from her coffee cup that the shop seemed to reserve just for her. Kakashi noticed that she always had her coffee the same way: with just a little bit of cream and a dash of sugar.

For the first time, Kakashi pulled out the chair across from the woman and sat down. Sayuri looked surprised but didn't comment. The silver haired Nin leaned his masked cheek on the palm of his hand casually.

"So, Sayuri…" He started, reaching out for a topic. He wasn't usually good at this kind of thing. He was so used to ignoring conversations around him; he barely knew how to start one.

"What do you do in your free time?"

Kakashi thought that sounded lame, or like he was interviewing someone, but it was the best he could do without blurting out something sarcastic or bland…er.

Sayuri blinked at him for a moment, "Um… Sit here."

Kakashi sweat-dropped, chuckling nervously, "R-Really?"

She nodded, looking away. Kakashi looked away too. Well, this was more awkward than he planned…

"What about you?" her voice asked, causing Kakashi to turn back to face her.

She was looking back at him, looking as awkward as he felt. Her fingers tapped soundlessly against the tabletop.

Kakashi then considered the returned question. He briefly thought to give the same answer he gave everyone else: 'None of your business,' or 'a lot of different things.'

But he couldn't bring himself to. Not to her.

Kakashi realized he was getting attached to this girl he had only known for a few weeks. Then he realized he didn't really mind.

"I like to read a lot," He replied truthfully, "but other than that, nothing much."

"Oh," she said, quietly, then added, almost bashfully, "What do you like to read?"

Kakashi blushed under his mask, coughing embarrassedly into his fist, "Um, er, ah… well…"

A small, almost knowing, smile bloomed on her lips before it was gone. Kakashi almost thought he had imagined it.

"I see…" she said, sparing Kakashi the further embarrassment of explaining his favorite novels to her.

"How do you like being a Jounin?" Kakashi asked, changing the subject.

She nodded, "It's nice," she said simply.

Kakashi didn't push for more information, just smiled and nodded. They chatted for a little while more, never getting very personal at all besides the initial question Kakashi had asked. Then, as usual, he made some excuse of a meeting he was late for (which he probably was) and left in a puff of smoke.

Somehow, Kakashi felt they were closer to being friends now.

_'Til everything burns__  
__While everyone screams__  
__Burning their lies__  
__Burning my dreams_

They quickly set up a regular routine. On Wednesdays and Fridays Kakashi would find her at the coffee shop drinking her regular cream and dash of sugar coffee and he would greet her with the regular 'Yo, Sayuri!' and they would talk. They didn't rely on this too much, as they were often called away on missions, but for the most part it worked.

Kakashi didn't think Sayuri thought of these meetings as planned; they weren't really. There was no set time, but Kakashi found himself gravitating towards ten o'clock, and he would jokingly apologize for being late and offer up an excuse he took from Obito.

_All of this faith__  
__And all of this pain__  
__Burning all down__  
__Cause my anger reigns_

Slowly, very slowly, Sayuri gradually offered up more information about herself to Kakashi. Kakashi didn't pry, and he thought that might have been why she was becoming more willing to share. Sayuri, Kakashi found, was not shy, but a very closed-off person. Sometimes, she reminded him of his childhood self.

Even so, He found himself more and more drawn to her personality.

And despite her cautiousness, Kakashi found himself seeing more and more of a person as broken as him.

And, despite his own crooked heart, he wanted to help mend hers.

_Everything burns_

_Walking through life unnoticed__  
__Knowing that no one cares_

They never spoke of family. For both that was a forbidden subject. He could only guess why it was for her.

Sayuri never spoke of any friends she had. Kakashi had the sneaking suspicion that he was the only person who talked to her.

And he didn't know if she thought of him as a friend or not.

Kakashi found himself placing her among his best friends in his mind's scale. He also found himself a bit (well, more than a bit) disappointed when he found she had been sent on a mission and he couldn't see her for anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

_To consume and then masquerade__  
__No one sees her there_

Kakashi started mentioning her to his other friends or acquaintances in regular conversation. At least, when he felt like inserting something into the conversation, he did.

The first time he spoke of her was with Gai. The 'youthful' man was prattling on about something, though Kakashi didn't really care what.

"… and then I said: 'At last! A fine competition to test my youth!' But he-"

"Sayuri thinks that fighting for sport is juvenile," Kakashi suddenly inserted, casually flipping a page in the book he was reading. Then, he blinked at himself. He hadn't intended to say anything, he did so without thinking.

Gai, following his example, blinked at the other Jounin.

"Who might be Sayuri?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to reply, then closed it. He realized that he truly was the only person who really noticed Sayuri's presence in Konoha on a daily basis.

"She's the newest Jounin, Ito Sayuri."

"Oh," Gai said thoughtfully, but still managing to look ridiculous, "I do not believe I have ever met her."

Kakashi shrugged, but couldn't help but think, _no-one else seems to have met her either._

_And still she sings__  
_

The next time he said something about her he was in the Jounin lounge, listening idly to the other ninjas' conversation. However, this time, the conversation was directly related to the girl Kakashi felt so attached to.

Asuma was talking about his latest mission, with occasional input from Anko, who had also gone.

"… It was a fairly easy mission for three Jou-"

"Three?" Kurenai interrupted, "I thought it was just you and Anko?"

"What?" Asuma said, chewing on his cigarette, "Oh, yeah. There was this other girl there, I forgot her name…"

"Yeah, that weird new girl," Anko inserted, twirling a finger casually through her purple hair. Kakashi looked up from his reading material at this.

"What was her name…" Kurenai pondered.

"It's Sayuri," Kakashi said, frowning.

"Yeah, that's what it was!" Anko snapped her fingers, grinning as if she was the one that supplied the name. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

Kurenai, however, frowned. "I remember talking to her when she first got here. She's very stand-off-ish and barely says anything."

Well, Kakashi supposed that was true. When he first talked to her he thought the same thing, but wasn't bothered by it. Kurenai, however, apparently was.

"I got that feeling too on the mission," Asuma supplied, sounding unconcerned.

"Well I think she's weird," Anko stated matter-of-factly, crossing her arms.

Kakashi frowned again, almost feeling personally insulted on behalf of his friend. (He still wasn't sure if she considered him a friend or not, though)

"She's not weird…"

They ignored his statement as if he had never said it. "She's just so closed off, and she doesn't talk to anybody…" Kurenai said.

"I suppose I'm not 'anybody,' then?" Kakashi inserted swiftly, a bit annoyed at their half-insults to his friend.

Kakashi blinked at his thoughts. When had he become so protective of Sayuri? He had only known her for… had it really been four months?

The three other Jounin turned to him in surprise.

"_You_ talk to her?" Anko asked incredulously, gaping at him.

"Yes," Kakashi replied, looking down at his book again for a moment, "She's one of my closer friends."

Kurenai and Asuma had the grace to look abashed at this admission, but Anko was unrepentant.

"Sorry, Kakashi," Kurenai apologized sheepishly, "I didn't mean to bad-mouth one of your, uh… friends…"

Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly, appearing unaffected. He was still a bit annoyed, but her apology settled that some.

Anko narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's she like if you talk to her _so_ much?"

Kakashi looked up at the special Jounin, his uncovered eye narrowed slightly in return. "She isn't shy, she just doesn't like sharing about herself to people she doesn't know. Being a ninja is her life, but she doesn't like fighting when she doesn't have to. She's twenty nine, a year younger than me. She grew up in Konoha and graduated to genin in the middle of her class. She was moved up to chuunin not long after that, and was promoted to Jounin four months ago."

Kakashi turned back to his reading after this, ignoring the gob-smacked looks on the other three's faces. Anko recovered first, sniffing in an affronted manner and huffing.

"Jeez, Kakashi, what are you, in _love_ with the girl?"

Kakashi 'hmm'ed in a way that usually meant he wasn't paying attention, but couldn't get what Anko said out of his head so quickly.

The conversation turned to another topic, not touching on the subject of the 'new' girl again. Yet, Kakashi couldn't help but ask himself: _was he in love with Sayuri?_

_'Til everything burns__  
__While everyone screams__  
__Burning their lies__  
__Burning my dreams_

Kakashi and Sayuri continued to meet up at the coffee shop. Kakashi found himself talking about himself more than he ever had, and willingly too! He was almost positive she knew him as well as he knew her. And, if he did say so himself, he knew her pretty well.

"What's your favorite type of jutsu? I know you know a lot, but everyone has a favorite type." Her voice jolted him out of his musings.

He 'hmm'ed at the question, tapping his chin. This was one of the few personal questions she would dare ask, and even that took her a long time to feel comfortable with.

"I prefer lightening jutsu, if that's what you mean. It's my natural element."

Her lips twitched upward in something resembling a smile, humor shining briefly in her eyes. Kakashi had the feeling she was laughing internally.

"What?" he asked inquisitively.

She shook her head, "Nothing. It's just… when I think of lightening, I think of energy and cackling passion. You… don't fit that at all. You're so laid back and lazy…"

Kakashi also smiled, but said mock affrontedly, "Well, I think I'm offended! What's your element then, Sayuri-chan?"

Sayuri frowned at the suffix (Kakashi really hadn't noticed that he'd tacked it on the end of her name) but ignored it in favor of answering his question.

"My element's fire, but I'm still training with it."

"See! That doesn't fit you either! I would've thought you to be water, if it went by your personality."

She 'hmm'ed, brushing a stray hair out of her face, "I'm the only one in my family who has anything besides water element…"

Then she seemed to realize that she had been close to talking about her relatives and changed the subject. Kakashi noticed, but did not comment on, the subject change, easily going along with it.

They were chatting about nothing in particular when a wolf masked ANBU dropped down beside the table, holding two scrolls. The ANBU handed one to each of the Jounin, then swiftly disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Kakashi and Sayuri both opened the identical mission scrolls, reading through them quickly before disposing of them in a flash of fire.

"Well," Kakashi said, eye smiling, "It seems we were put on the same mission. Should be fun, eh?"

Sayuri nodded with a small smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning at seven!" Kakashi said cheerfully as he stood.

"Nine it is then…"

"Of course!"

_All of this faith__  
__And all of this pain__  
__I'll burn it all down__  
__As my anger reigns__  
_

As was traditional for Kakashi, he showed up two hours after the set meeting time. Yamato was there, along with a few other random Chuunin. He spotted Sayuri standing apart from the others by herself in her mission gear. He went to speak with her and try to maybe get her to talk with at least Yamato when said man interrupted him.

"You're late, Kakashi-sempai…" Yamato said, exasperated.

Kakashi eye-smiled, not sorry in the least, "I thought you'd be used to it by now, Yamato."

The other man only shook his head. The Chuunin standing behind him looked a bit star-struck. They obviously knew who Kakashi was.

Sayuri lingered near the back of the group, still not part of it, but she had moved closer when Kakashi appeared. Kakashi thought that he mind as well introduce her to Yamato.

"Sayuri!" He called over the heads of the others, raising a hand. The Chuunin whipped around to look at the girl, but Yamato only looked curiously over his shoulder. Sayuri froze up at the sudden stares pointed at her, but then sent her own semi-heated stare at Kakashi.

Kakashi sweat-dropped, _maybe I shouldn't have called her over with all these Chuunin here… _Oh well. "Sayuri, come here, I have someone to introduce to you."

The tall girl sighed, making her way over. Yamato turned to face her as she stopped beside Kakashi, raising an eyebrow at the muted glare she threw the silver haired Jounin. That eyebrow lifted higher when the other man in turn only smiled at her.

"Yes, Kakashi?"

"Sayuri, this is Yamato, a friend of mine. Yamato, this is Sayuri."

Yamato smiled, reaching out a hand, Sayuri looked at it for a moment before taking it and shaking it slightly and letting go. "It's nice to meet you, Sayuri."

Sayuri nodded back, making no likewise reply. Kakashi had almost forgotten that she used to be this way with him as well.

"Well!" Kakashi said cheerfully, "Let's get going, team!"

_'Til everything burns__  
__Everything burns__  
__Everything burns_

The mission was _not_ as simple as Kakashi first thought. It was straightforward: Retrieve a scroll from the enemy, strong risk of enemy ambush, which was why there were three Jounin and four Chuunin.

However, he didn't think anyone expected such a _large_ ambush.

Kakashi knew that the seven Konoha ninja could easily take down fifteen enemy chuunin. It was a bit, well more than a bit, more difficult when ten of those fifteen enemy ninja were Jounin.

They had already come close to loosing one of their chuunin that Kakashi didn't know well. The silver haired man didn't plan on letting any more of his teammates come so close to falling.

As he put one of the Jounin out of action, he glanced over at Sayuri and Yamato to see how they were doing. Yamato was holding his own nicely with two Jounin near Kakashi. Kakashi panicked a little inside when he couldn't immediately spot the girl with the long black hair.

When he did spot her, it was six yards from him. There was two chuunin behind her, both unconscious on the ground. She was obviously trying to keep them from getting further injured. This wouldn't have concerned Kakashi if there hadn't been _three_ Jounin surrounding her.

Kakashi glanced at Yamato and the remaining Chuunin (who was stationed by the wood user) before rushing off towards Sayuri. He jumped in between her and one of the Jounin and distracted him.

"What are you doing?" Sayuri yelled, the loudest he had ever heard her speak, "Yamato needs you over there!"

"He'll be fine for a while!" Kakashi replied back, dodging a cut to his shoulder, "I'm not going to just abandon you! I don't let my friends get hurt if I can help it!"

He saw her eyes grow wide as if she realized something horrible. He looked at her curiously, opening his mouth to ask 'What?'

He didn't get the chance, however. The light in her eyes he noticed had developed over the months dimmed, making them look like a gray-green. She turned away from Kakashi, back to her fight without another word.

The change in her demeanor was so rapid; Kakashi almost did a double take. She was no longer the girl that he had gotten to know over the past five months. She was once again closed off, her eyes showed no emotion.

Kakashi couldn't see the girl he had fallen for.

_Watching it all fade away__  
__Everyone screams__  
__Everyone screams_

Kakashi was sure now that Sayuri was avoiding him. It had been a week since they had returned from the mission. Everyone had survived, but Sayuri hadn't said a word to Kakashi since then. He no longer saw her at the coffee shop, even when he sat there unconsciously for hours at a time. The only time he caught a glimpse of her was at the Jounin meeting, but when he had gone over to speak with her, she disappeared.

He felt confused and… hurt that she was clearly going to such lengths to avoid speaking with him. What had he done that was so bad? He couldn't recall anything he said during the mission that would have offended her…

After another week of not talking to Sayuri, Kakashi began to be gloomy all the time around his other friends. They didn't understand why he had suddenly retracted so far into his shell, keeping tight-lipped at all times.

Only Yamato had the slightest hunch on why Kakashi was acting this way, and even he didn't fully understand what was going on.

Whenever anyone asked him what was 'wrong' he replied that he didn't know.

He couldn't find her to ask.

_Burning down lies__  
__Burning my dreams__  
__And all of this pain__  
__I'll burn it all down_

Two weeks and three days after they got back form 'the' mission; Kakashi was sulking in the Jounin lounge. Kurenai and Asuma were talking on the couch next to him, but he made no more to add anything.

Suddenly the door opened and the woman Kakashi had been thinking about almost non-stop for the past two weeks walked in a step.

She froze at the sight of him, just as he did at the sight of her. Kurenai and Asuma noticed the sudden tension, looking between the black haired woman and the silver haired man.

Sayuri's eyes were locked on Kakashi's. Kakashi saw a tiny glimmer of that familiar light before it was gone.

Sayuri jerked, spun and swished back out the door in a split second. Kakashi sat there for a second, stunned.

Then he hopped up, deciding to act.

"Sayuri! Wait!"

He ran out the door after her, ignoring the faint "Kakashi?" from behind him. He saw her in front of him, running in a random direction. He caught up to her easily, lightly grabbing hold of her arm to stop her.

He spun her around, his uncovered eye searching hers. To his immense surprise, the forest green eyes he loved were filling with tears.

One escaped and rolled down her face. He caught it with his thumb before she could.

"Sayuri…" He started, suddenly unsure, "I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry for whatever I did. Please, just tell me what made you so upset."

She tried to move her face away, but he caught her chin. She hiccupped, trying to stem the tears before they fell.

"You- You called me your friend."

"W-What?" Kakashi said, dumbfounded.

"You called me your friend, and I knew I had let myself get to close." Sayuri said, breaking away from Kakashi hold.

"Too close?"

Sayuri nodded, wiping a few tears from her cheeks.

"What-what's wrong with that?" Kakashi asked hesitantly.

"If I let myself get to close, I will end up in pain. That's always what happens."

"Oh, Sayuri…" Kakashi took a step closer.

"No!" She yelled suddenly, "No! You don't get it! Every time I let myself depend on someone or become friends with anyone I get hurt. People will always stab you in the back and abandon you, that's just the way it is!"

"Sayuri, I…"

"You know that even my parents abandoned me when I was little?" She asked him, whipping around to look at him. She had a sad gleam in her eyes that Kakashi didn't like at all. "Because I was too different from them. Then my genin team- they lied to me and tried to crush my dreams. I almost didn't make Chuunin because of them.

"Then I met you." Sayuri said softly, and Kakashi wasn't sure how to react. "Everyone else here stopped to ask my name and introduce themselves, but they never stopped to talk again after that. Except you. I was so surprised that I let you get closer to me, talk to me and get to know me. And I got to know you. And I learned about the most amazing, quirky, protective man I had ever met."

_As my anger reigns__  
__'Til everything burns__  
__Watching it all fade away__  
__Watching it all fade away_

She looked up at Kakashi, tears anew flowing down her face, "And I unknowingly fell in love with him."

Kakashi took another step forward, placing his hand on her arm, "Sayuri, I…"

"But on the mission two weeks ago you called me your friend. I remembered all the hurt I had endured because of my _friends_ and _family_ and shut down." She interrupted, "I had to protect myself, even if I didn't want to believe you'd be like they were."

Kakashi was lost for words. She had revealed more about herself in five minutes then she had in four months. He took a minute to process it all before replying.

"Sayuri…" He suddenly swept his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. She didn't resist, only let herself be embraced.

"Sayuri… What your family and Genin team did to you was something I can never forgive. No-one deserves to be treated like that, especially you.

"But what I said on the mission was true," He said, pulling her back to stare into her eyes, "I will never abandon you. I swear apon my honor as a ninja and as a man that I will not be like all the rest. And I will prove it to you, no matter how long it takes."

Then Kakashi did what no-one else had seen him do. He grabbed the edge of his navy blue mask and pulled it down under his chin, revealing his face. Then he leaned down to Sayuri's level and placed a velvety soft kiss on her lips.

He pulled back to see her reaction. She was not gaping at him as he was sure other girls would do. She stared at him for a moment, stunned. Then, a purely happy, joyful smile bloomed on her lips and she leaned forward to kiss him back.

They shared their tender moment before she again leaned back, still smiling. Kakashi smiled too, feeling whole again.

"I love you, Kakashi."

"And I love you, Sayuri-chan."

_And still she sings__  
__'Til everything burns__  
__While everyone screams__  
__Burning their lies__  
__Burning my dreams__  
__All of this faith__  
__And all of this pain__  
__I'll burn it all down__  
__As my anger reigns__  
_

* * *

_A.N.: And there it is! I think it's the longest song-fic in the history of forever. ^_^;; Ah, well. Review? Please?_

**Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or anime "Naruto" nor "Everything Burns" by Anistacia. All rights to the owners of these works.**

_Until next time, STAY YOUTHFUL!_


End file.
